Current tap



Jan. 13, 1959 s. B. BENANDER CURRENT TAP Filed April 25, 1956 Fig.8.

Inventor George B..B'enonder His Attorney upper arm 31 of the portion 26 is located in one of the openings 12. Finally, the U-shaped portion 29 is centered in one of the Openings 14 in the end of the connector. Thus, as seen in Figures 5 and 8, the prongs 32 of an attachment plug may be inserted in the openings 13 for engagement in the diamond-shaped opening 21 and tapered opening 22 of the arm 30, or in engagement with similar parts in the arm 31 of the opening 12. The U- shaped portion 29 in the opening 14 is difierent from the others in that the prong 32 of an attachment plug is inserted in the slots in both arms of the U-shaped portion, as best seen in Figure 5.

Having described above my invention as it is applied to a cord connector for receiving as many as three attachment plugs simultaneously by using a contact strip of thin material of uniform width, it will be readily appreciated that the contact strip may be formed into shapes other than the combined S-shape and the U-shape specifically described. As an example, a cube tap with male prongs might have contact strips with three U-shaped portions formed in the manner of a cross. Alternately, the contact strip could be made for a triple tap for receiving a pair of attachment plugs on one side and a third attachment plug on the opposite side rather than in the manner shown in the drawing where there is a place for an attachment plug on the opposite sides and one to be attached in the end of the connector.

Those skilled in this art will immediately appreciate that I have formed contact strips where there is no waste of contact material since the edges do not have to be trimmed, for all of the bends in the contact strip are formed transversely thereof, which is an important feature of this invention. Likewise, I have incorporated this novel contact strip into a connector body of minimum overall size which cannot be easily broken. when dropped or stepped upon, which is a common occurrence in the home.

Modifications of this invention will occur to those skilled in this art and it is to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed but that it is intended to cover all modifications which are within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A triple tap comprising a molded body of resilient insulating material comprising three pairs of parallel attachment plug-receiving openings, an identical pair of parallel contacts of strip material arranged edgewise to each other within the body, each contact being formed transversely into an Sshaped portion having an upper arm and lower arm, the upper arm merging into a longitudinally extending U-shaped portion, the lower arm of the S-shaped portion having a longitudinal extension serving as the terminal end for connection with an electrical conductor, each bend in the S-shaped portion as well as the upper and lower arms being slotted longitudinally for receiving in each arm the blade of an attachment plug that enters from opposite sides of the body through attachment plug-receiving openings, while the entire U-shaped portion is slotted longitudinally for receiving the blade of an attachment plug that extends through an opening in the end of the body.

'2. A triple tap comprising a body of insulating material having three pairs of plug prong-receiving openings, one pair of openings being at one end of the body and the other two pairs being on opposing sides of the body where they are offset from each other, and a pair of narrow electrical contact strips encased in the body in edgewise, side-by-side relationship, each contact strip being formed transversely into an S-shaped portion and a longitudinally extending U-shaped portion merging with one end of the S-shaped portion, the opposite end of the S- shaped portion having, an extension serving as the terminal end for connection with an electrical conductor, the S-shaped portion of each contact having two arms and a central section that are all parallel to each other, the two arms and the bends in each S-shaped portion being longitudinally slotted and located within the said offset plug prong-receiving openings, the central section being embedded in the body material, the U-shaped portions of the contact strips being located within the end plug prong-receiving openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS 

